Growing fodder for chickens

[dollbaby769]

thanks!

 

[tillyita]

Right now I give free choice feed and sprout about one and a half cups for about 20 chickens (one cup wheat and one half cup black oil sunflower seed). My four adult laying chickens eat about half of this because I'm not messing with the little one's diet too much just yet. They consume pretty much all I give them and it reduces how much commercial feed they eat but if I don't change their commercial feed to a higher protein feed the egg production will go down because this decreases their protein intake over all. So I started raising meal worms to feed with my fodder....But haven't built up the meal worm population enough yet to really supplement. What I noticed (I'm just sharing observations I am no expert on this).. is if I feed an all flock 18% feed or a mixture of a little game bird 22% feed with all flock 18% along side the fodder (and oyster shell) the adults are getting.. they keep up with laying at the same rate that they do on layer feed which is about 16%. This could be completely wrong but so far that's what I've been up to. They are a layer breed and lay an egg almost every day. I'm sure this all works out different for different breeds and different free range feed availability.. I estimate that my fodder I'm growing is something like 13% protein. The crude protein of the BOSS I'm sprouting says 15% on the bag. If anyone with difficulty with mold uses a needlepoint mesh basket like this for sprouting and still gets mold I would be very interested to hear that it happened.

. If you add some lupin or lucerne (alfalfa) seed/grain to your mix it will increase your protein levels. (Bean or pea sprouts would also work - but pound for pound are more expensive) I use chia instead of sunflower seed.

 

[MrsDH]

Hi.
I'm pretty new to Chicken raising... what is Fodder?

 

[Lacy Blues]

at this point I would take any type of fodder. I have read somewhere that one may use lentil seeds from the grocery store. Does anyone know anything about that? rye? barley?

I sprout the lentils from the store. I use a half bag at a time. I rinse well, with cold water, and then soak in cold water for 4 to 6 hours. They will start to ferment if you soak them longer but I suppose just changing the water and soaking longer would work. After my soak, I rinse well again and then drain well. I leave them in my container after draining and lay it on its side to let the seeds spread out some. I drilled lots of holes in the lid of my container and the body of it is somewhat opaque but not completely so some light does get in and air gets through the holes. It takes maybe 4 days to get sprouts that are 3/4 to one inch long. This is the stage where I feed them out.

I've tried sprouting lentils the same way Kassaundra sprouts her oats but they never did anything. They don't like the burlap sack or the dark. They do very very well with the method above.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Hi.
I'm pretty new to Chicken raising... what is Fodder?

Fodder is sprouted grains grown to the grass stage of growth.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Right now I give free choice feed and sprout about one and a half cups for about 20 chickens (one cup wheat and one half cup black oil sunflower seed).

My four adult laying chickens eat about half of this because I'm not messing with the little one's diet too much just yet.

They consume pretty much all I give them and it reduces how much commercial feed they eat but if I don't change their commercial feed to a higher protein feed the egg production will go down because this decreases their protein intake over all. So I started raising meal worms to feed with my fodder....But haven't built up the meal worm population enough yet to really supplement.

What I noticed (I'm just sharing observations I am no expert on this).. is if I feed an all flock 18% feed or a mixture of a little game bird 22% feed with all flock 18% along side the fodder (and oyster shell) the adults are getting.. they keep up with laying at the same rate that they do on layer feed which is about 16%. This could be completely wrong but so far that's what I've been up to. They are a layer breed and lay an egg almost every day.

I'm sure this all works out different for different breeds and different free range feed availability..

I estimate that my fodder I'm growing is something like 13% protein.

The crude protein of the BOSS I'm sprouting says 15% on the bag.

If anyone with difficulty with mold uses a needlepoint mesh basket like this



for sprouting and still gets mold I would be very interested to hear that it happened.

WH, what did you use to secure your ends on these baskets?

 

[tillyita]

Yes it's draining pretty well. Would you still recommend a fan even if I have it outside? That should be good air flow, shouldn't it?

How much light does it have and what temperature are you at?

 

[WHmarans]

but do not sprout kidney beans for them they are toxic and raw soybeans area also toxic... so be careful with beans. The only ones I trust are black beans.

 

[WHmarans]

I used just a little bit of fishing line to secure the ends.

Another question for those with mold if the sprouting is taking very long... the temperature range could be wrong I guess.

Lentils sound like a really good idea to me I haven't looked into it much yet. Alfalfa sounds good too.

But also it isn't just total protein.. there are several essential amino acids that all need to be there for the animals to have the protein they need. One of these is methionine. I believe it is difficult to get enough from plants. That's where I was hoping the meal worms could fill in.

The source for it in commercial chicken feed used to be fish meal.

 

[Teacla]

I do but I was using little thin plastic flats, that did not last long. Now I'm trying jars and there just OK. What are you using for flats? Yours look great!